The so called “Day of Silence” has nothing to do with education. It is a waste of educational resources and sends the wrong message to our children. The best way to discourage the practice of allowing these radical homosexual groups from commandeering our school systems is to vote with our feet, and take our tax dollars with us.

—Beetle Blogger

See this from CRI:

Capitol Resource Institute is encouraging families to keep students home from school on Friday, April 16, unless their schools expressly expect students to speak on that day.

April 16th is the Day of Silence, a campaign of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which is often used to make homosexual behavior appear normal on school campuses.

“Students should focus on academics in school. They should not be allowed to end their verbal engagement in class for a social agenda,” said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute.

“We pay California teachers to teach — by speaking in classrooms — and teachers should also be expected to fully discharge their duties on all schooldays,” she said. “If a school allows teachers to stop teaching, it should not get tax dollars for educating our students on that day.”

By urging a one day absence, CRI joins more than two dozen organizations in the Day of Silence Walkout Coalition. The coalition includes organizations such as Concerned Women for America, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, and more. It reaches out to parents across the nation who do not want their children focusing on sexuality at school.

Classrooms and campuses should focus on academics, and any student harassment should be handled with appropriate school discipline. Yet Day of Silence is one of five GLSEN events that are designed to focus campus attention on student sexuality. These events — including No Name-Calling Week and TransAction! — take a total of 16 days.

In addition to these 16 days, California public schools regularly promote the acceptance of homosexual behavior in their school safety programs. State law equally prohibits the mistreatment of all students, whether homosexual, religious, or other students are harmed.

“Every parent, teacher, and student should oppose bullying of all kinds, but Day of Silence moves beyond simple opposition to bullying,” England said. “Day of Silence equates being anti-harassment with being in favor of homosexual behavior. That is unfair to the millions of people who are respectful and friends with homosexuals, while maintaining traditional views of male and female sexuality,” she said.

Call your school to ask whether it is permitting participating in Day of Silence. Schools do not technically sponsor this social protest, but hundreds permit or encourage it. To make sure there is no disconnect between the school office and your classroom, also contact your child’s teacher and ask whether students will be allowed to participate in the Day of Silence.

Also check whether your school has a Gay-Straight Alliance Club. If your school is among the 700 California public, private, and religious schools with a GSA, chances are high that silence will be observed by at least some people on campus.

“In every generation, parents need to teach their children about treating all people with respect, while maintaining their own convictions,” England said. “This is a great chance to do so.”

People Can Change

Can’t We All Just Get Along?by Rich Wyler, republished with permission

That was the plaintive cry of police beating victim Rodney King during the 1992 Los Angeles riots that erupted after a jury found the police not guilty. I was working at a bank in downtown Los Angeles at the time, and was a firsthand witness to the rampant destruction that led Rodney King to go on television to plead for civility.

“Can’t we all just get along?”

Rodney King’s words come back to me as I contemplate this year’s planned “Day of Silence” on Friday, April 17, organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN. On the Day of Silence, high school and middle school students are encouraged to take a day-long vow of silence to symbolize solidarity with the supposed “silencing” of “GLBT” students and their supporters.

In response, more than 20 conservative groups are calling for a walk-out at participating middle and high schools, urging parents to keep their children home Friday, according to the Christian Post. Meanwhile, the Alliance Defense Fund has responded by organizing its own “Day of Truth,” scheduled for Monday April 20. Students are encouraged to wear T-shirts and pass out cards with messages like:

“I’m speaking the Truth to break the silence. True tolerance means that people with differing — even opposing — viewpoints can freely exchange ideas and respectfully listen to each other. It’s time for an honest conversation about homosexuality. There’s freedom to change if you want to. Let’s talk.”

I find the claim of gays being silenced to be ironic to the point of Orwellian doublespeak. From where I sit, the gay lobby appears to have an enormous platform to speak out, including the world’s news media in their hands. Never has any “oppressed minority” overcome so much to become so celebrated and endorsed by the world’s media and political and entertainment elite in so few years.

Meanwhile, those who would dare claim that maybe gays are not “born that way,” and point out that some people have changed from gay to straight, are routinely and roundly ridiculed as small-minded, hate-mongering homophobes and are regularly shamed into silence. Try speaking out with this alternative viewpoint, and see who it is that is really being silenced. Your view will typically be labeled as divisive hate speech, and hate speech cannot be tolerated.

Nevertheless, the answer, in my view, is not to lash out at the gay lobby and fan the flames of dissent. The answer is to display true tolerance, not the artificial tolerance that is really a code word for “endorse-our-viewpoint-and-our-way-of-life-or-be-attacked-as-a-homophobe.”

Too many people want to make homosexuality and the possibility of change an us-versus-them, all-or-nothing issue with clear winners and losers. Small-minded, hate-mongering homophobes (allegedly) on one side versus lust-driven, devil-loving perverts (allegedly) on the other side.

Can’t we all just get along?

As the founder of People Can Change, I quite clearly represent the viewpoint that sexual orientation change is possible…at least for some people. Is it possible for everyone? How could I possibly know that?

I only know that I have experienced profound change, and am much happier for it. I also know that many of my friends and colleagues in this movement have experienced dramatic change, and are much happier for it. And that is the message I choose to share.

– We recognize the inherent and equal worth of all people. We strongly object to “gay bashing” – just as we object to “ex-gay bashing” – and instead encourage compassion and understanding for all who deal with or have ever dealt with homosexuality, however they may choose to address it in their lives. We respect their dignity, worth, right to self-determination, and right to equal protection under the law.

– Significant sexual-orientation change may or may not be possible for every person who has homosexual desires. Likewise, pursuing change is not the only possible response to unwanted homosexual feelings and may or may not be the most appropriate resolution for any particular individual.

– No one can make anyone else change their sexual orientation against their will, nor do we believe anyone should attempt to force or pressure someone to change who is not intrinsically motivated to do so.

Despite this policy of tolerance and respect, I regularly receive hate email, lashing out at me as a homophobe and hate-monger, sometimes damning me to hell and wishing me an early and painful death.

Whatever happened to freedom of choice? To the right to self determination? And simply to free speech?

Sharing my personal story, and the path that worked for me and has worked for so many others, is not anti-gay.

It is pro-individual.

It is pro-self-determination.

It is pro-choice.

If we could all show more respect for the individual, for self-determination, for freedom of choice, then certainly we could all get along.

Louder than Silence

From CRI:

Day of Silence is supposed to be a campaign against name calling, bullying, and harassment. In messages from Day of Silence supporters, staff members at Capitol Resource Institute and another pro-family organization are called “bigot,” “disgusting,” “evil spawn,” and much more.

“If this is the kind of atmosphere we get just for asking kids to stay home, in an email, can you imagine what is like for kids refusing to stay silent?” said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute.

We are urging this one day walkout because students should be free to support traditional marriage and relationships, without others calling them as bigots. We are urging this one day walkout because teachers should focus on academic subjects, not on changing students’ minds about sexual issues. If schools permit the Day of Silence in class, students are best off somewhere else.

“The actions of Day of Silence supporters are speaking louder than the silence,” England said.

Education Muted by Day of Silence

“Last year, our organization fielded hundreds of calls from concerned parents and school officials, who wanted to know more about the Day of Silence and who did not want to be associated with it in any way,” said Linda Harvey, founder of Mission:America.

The official Day of Silence purpose is to combat bullying, by providing a silent picture of oppression that society imposes on homosexuals. It is spearheaded by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which promotes more than two weeks’ worth of sexuality-focused events in schools across the nation, including Day of Silence.

The Day of Silence Walkout Coalition includes organizations such as Concerned Women for American, American Family Association, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, and more.

Everyone should oppose bullying, but this event sends the message that to be anti-harassment, students must approve of homosexual behavior. That is not a tolerant message.

Beyond sexuality issues, staying silent makes it hard to fully engage in the academic process. Teachers are paid to talk. Students clarify their understandings by asking questions. Even school counselors — like the one who looked silently at a California girl, who was in tears over the silent glares that her teacher and peers gave her in class — must speak to discharge their normal duties.

“Different schools will see different levels of participation. Yet placing students in school, whatever the level of participation, is an implicit acceptance of this event,” said Karen England of CRI.

Schools do not officially sponsor or endorse GLSEN’s Day of Silence, but many permit participation. “As parents, we should expect full academic engagement every school day, not silence for the sake of social activism,” England said.

Find out whether your school is allowing Day of Silence, by contacting both the school and your child’s teacher. Schools made an effort to be aware of what happens on campus, but sometimes cannot follow everything that happens in classrooms. —Capitol Resource Institute

What can you do? Walk-out counter protest:

The Day of Silence, which is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), fast approaches. This year it will take place in most public schools on April 17. On this day, thousands of public high schools and increasing numbers of middle schools will allow students to remain silent throughout an entire day-even during instructional time-to promote GLSEN’s socio-political goals and its controversial, unproven, and destructive theories on the nature and morality of homosexuality.

Parents must actively oppose this hijacking of the classroom for political purposes. Please join the national effort to restore to public education a proper understanding of the role of government-subsidized schools. Please help de-politicize the learning environment by calling your child out of school if your child’s school allows students to remain silent during instructional time on the Day of Silence.

Parents should call their children’s middle schools and high schools to ask whether the administration and/or teachers will be permitting students to remain silent during class on the Day of Silence.

If students will be permitted to remain silent, parents can express their opposition most effectively by calling their children out of school on the Day of Silence and sending letters of explanation to their administrators, their children’s teachers, and all school board members. One reason this is effective is that most school districts lose money for each student absence.